HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port FC

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. is a manufacturing and marketing partner for the new HP Virtual Connect 8 Gbps 24-port Fibre Channel (FC) module. The Virtual Connect module will provide leading storage area network (SAN) connectivity within the new HP BladeSystem Matrix offering, a pre-integrated platform that creates pools of server, storage, power, and network capacity that can be divided and allocated to applications across up to 1000 physical or virtual servers – all managed as one environment.

HP BladeSystem Matrix includes Virtual Connect for network connectivity and unites the tools, processes, and architecture of physical and virtual infrastructure, helping to reduce data center complexity as well as capital and operational expenses. To help limit disruption in customer environments and preserve existing infrastructure investments, the Brocade family of data center offerings is fully interoperable with HP BladeSystem Matrix and other standards-based data center products.

The new HP Virtual Connect 8 Gbps 24-port FC module and the HP Virtual Connect Ethernet modules enable BladeSystem Matrix customers to virtualize their server, storage, and network connections to make server changes in minutes, streamline the setup and management of storage assets, increase network performance and utilization, and improve operational flexibility. They also help deliver the end-to-end networking intelligence required to support the performance, scalability, and management for next-generation data center virtualization. This new Virtual Connect FC module is also available for use within all HP BladeSystem c-Class environments.

“As the industry leaders in data center networking solutions, Brocade and HP provide integrated products and services that help customers realize the cost and performance benefits of a simplified, secure, and flexible virtualized data center environment,” said Marc Randall, senior vice president of products and offerings at Brocade. “By working closely with HP on the Virtual Connect and BladeSystem Matrix initiatives, we are enabling customers to achieve their business objectives of increasing infrastructure convergence in a virtualized environment in the most cost-effective, easiest-to-deploy manner possible.”

“Customers who want to prepare their existing infrastructures for future growth while continuing to drive business results can turn to HP,” said Mark Potter, senior vice president and general manager, Infrastructure Software and Blades, HP. “HP and Brocade are working together to deliver a low-cost converged infrastructure with the HP BladeSystem Matrix that meets today’s goals to reduce costs and tomorrow’s requirements for highly virtualized data centers.”

HP TechnologyWork Technology Demonstration
Brocade and HP will be conducting a technology demonstration at the HP Technology@Work show in Berlin, Germany on April 21 to 23. The data center management demonstration will feature Brocade Data Center Fabric Manager (DCFM) and HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager (VCEM) integration as a proof of concept that provides deeper visibility into the HP Virtual Connect environment, from server to storage, via HP System Insight Manager, VCEM, and DCFM.